


In the Animal Kingdom

by HappyLeech



Series: Gifted Lives [8]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Background Sarge/Dr. Grey/Alanna Jacobi(OFC), Gen, More tags to be added, Temporary Character Death, magic gifts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-06-27 16:59:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15689607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HappyLeech/pseuds/HappyLeech
Summary: Thinking back on it, Carolina couldn't believe that she hadn't noticed that, not only did Wash have a Gift, but so didevery other memberof the Reds and Blues.





	1. Capybara/Otter/Canine/Hawk

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BoxOnTheNile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoxOnTheNile/gifts).



Carolina had always known that she had a Gift. When she was younger, her Grandfather had shown her the family shrine, birds of prey foremost and center, surrounded by small carvings of fish, donkeys, and bears.

“You have a Gift,” he’d told her, handing her a palm-sized sandstone carving of a hawk. “And this is your responsibility now. They don’t ask for much, just your respect.”

Carolina nodded, solemn faced as she always was when her Grandfather talked about the Gifts. “What am I supposed to do with my Gift, though? Dad won’t let me run fast anymore.”

She passed back the carving and he gives her a small smile as he placed it back on the shelf. “Protect the ones you love, Hon.”

 

* * *

 

 

Tens of years later, frozen in place and her speed of no use, Carolina can almost feel her heart stop when Wash’s does.

“W-Wash,” she croaked, hoping and praying to her Benefactor that her equipment was simply malfunctioning from seven days frozen. “David?”

 _‘Don’t cry, you can’t afford to lose any more fluids,’_ she sternly thought to herself, even as she began to hyperventilate. “David, Wash, please. Did you fall asleep again?” He has once the day before, jolting awake and asking her to keep him from sleeping. Carolina had already kept him from sleeping twice, before—

She gasped, eyes flicking to the side, to where Wash’s vitals were supposed to be listed.

“Please, don’t do this to me,” Carolina whispered, straining against her armour for the first time in three days, ignoring the bruises she given herself from trying to run. “I can’t—David—I can’t be the only one left.”

Nothing. No late inhale of breath, no sudden sneeze to startle them both into hysterical laughter, not even any soft mumbling as he spoke to the cat who was stuck inside the room with them.

God…she used to make fun of him back on the Mother of Invention whenever he’d start baby-talking one of the cats that roamed the halls. Carolina would give anything to see him again, half-stripped out of his armour, making kissy noises as he tried to coax a cat out of his locker.

“Please don’t leave me behind.” Carolina closed her eyes and a sob slipped out before she could stop herself.

A meow answered her, and her eyes shot open. “What?” She looked around the best she could, before sighing. “Hallucinating…that makes sense, right Was—” Carolina clicked her teeth together, cutting herself off. He was—how could she forget already?

“Hm…what was that, boss?” Carolina squeezed her eyes shut again. She didn’t _want this_. There was a yawn, then, “Sorry, I think I fell asleep.”

“I’m hallucinating,” she said, and the voice hummed in agreement. “You’re dead.”

For a moment there was nothing, then the voice snorted. “I don’t feel dead, boss. I’m tired as hell and sore and hungry and I think I’d actually kill for a glass of that hooch that Jensen and Lopez used to brew in that busted engine? But I’m pretty sure I’m not dead.”

Carolina opened one eye, then the other. Wash’s vitals were back in the corner and she got the feeling that he was giving her a worried look behind his helmet. “Are… you okay, Carolina?”

She let out a short bark of laughter. “Not really. Sorry…I think I fell asleep too.”

When Locus pulled them out of the room the next day, Carolina noticed the cat curled up in the corner near the door, but it slipped from her mind in the chaos that followed. Some _cat_ wasn’t as important as seeing Wash go down, a bullet through the neck.

So she forgot about it, until Dr. Grey jogged her memory.

 

* * *

 

Carolina sighed, shifting in her seat. Dr. Grey, “call me Emily”, had given her permission to get out of bed that morning, but she hadn’t moved far. Despite the fact that Locus had rushed Wash back to Chorus, somehow managing to drop him off at the hospital without being spotted or arrested, and despite the fact that it took her a good few days to get from Earth back to Chorus, he was still asleep.

Not that he stayed asleep the entire time. Palomo had said he sung the Mighty Ducks theme, and from what Dr. Jacobi’d told her, he’d wake up and ask a few questions, answer others, and fall back asleep.

“Last night, when he woke up, he recognized me, but asked if Maine was doing okay,” she’d told Carolina that morning, absent mindedly rubbing her thumb along the side of a smooth piece of granite. “He told me that he didn’t want Sigma in his head, too. He seemed relieved when I told him we were going to fix him up, no AI required.”

But Carolina wasn’t going to let that worry her. After all, she’d woken up twice already, looking for York sitting at her bedside before remembering that he was long gone.

A hand landed on her shoulder, and Carolina jumped before looking up at Dr. Grey. She had to be more tired than she thought if Emily was able to sneak up on her.

“You worry too much, just like his cats,” Emily said, squeezing once before folding her arms. “He’s going to be just fine, once he can stand to be awake for more than five minutes and me and Alanna figure out his therapy schedule.”

“His cats?” Carolina had meant to ask about the kind of therapy they were going to put Wash through, but the other question had just slipped out before she could stop it.

Emily grinned, and motioned for Carolina to join her at the window. “See, down there? His cats.”

Carolina looked down onto the roof below the window at what was easily fourteen cats. A single one was sitting on the windowsill, and it meowed and pawed at the window when it noticed Carolina.

“Oh hush- he isn’t well enough for you yet,” Emily said, tapping her fingers on the glass. The cat sneezed, then began to purr.

Carolina looked down at the crowd and began to think. On Iris they had four cats who had snuck on the shuttle up there, sticking as close as possible to Wash. On the Mother of Invention, there had been at least five different cats who followed him around, going as far as to sneak onto Niner's Pelican when he had missions. There had been cats when she had tried to recruit Wash to help her take down the Director, and they were oddly protective. The cats on the Hand of Merope who were underfoot the moment they boarded. The cat in the room when he--. She turned to Emily and motioned down to the cats, feeling both indignant and stupid for not realizing sooner. “Does Wash have a Gift?”

Emily gave her a surprised look. “I thought you knew, Carolina. All of you have Gifts.”

Carolina blinked, then squeezed her eyes shut, pinching her nose. “What.”

With a sigh, Emily tapped on her in-ear coms. “Dr. Jacobi, can I please get you to room 12 A?” she paused, motioning for Carolina to sit again. “No, no emergency, Agent Washington is fine. I just need your assistance explaining some things. Mhm, yes. Thank you.” She pulled a chair from the other side of the room and grabbed two more from outside, before pulling out her personal phone and dialing. “Nicola? How are you? Oh, I’m fine, dear. If it’s no trouble, can you come up to Agent Washington's room? Yes, okay. I’ll see you soon.”

Carolina sat, reaching out and taking Wash's hand. “When you say that we all have Gifts, you mean…”

“All of you, except for Lopez.” They both turned as the door opened and Dr. Jacobi stuck her head in. “Alanna, perfect, have a seat.”

“Is this about his routine because we both know it’s not finished yet. Hello Carolina,” she sat, before leaning over to grab Wash's chart. “How are you feeling today?”

“Annoyed.” Alanna looked up at her, an eyebrow raised. “At myself, not at anyone else. Well, maybe a little annoyed at Price too.”

Both Emily and Alanna scowled. Neither of them had any love for the former counselor of Project Freelancer, and not just because of his participation in the war.

“So, what’s going on?” Alanna asked, only for Emily to shush her.

“We're waiting on one more. Is there anyone you know who specialized in occupational therapy? I know Dr. Greer was but he, rest his soul, died in Armonia.”

“Hm…I don’t know. I’ll ask around once we’re finished, though I think we might have to find someone off planet-"

“Hello!” they all turned at as Matthews poked his head into the room. “Hi Dr. Grey! Hi Dr. Jacobi! How are you today, Agent Carolina?”

Carolina grinned. There was something about being around Emily and Nicola that seemed to even out her mood. She wondered what kind of Gift he had. “I’m okay. A little tired but I’m mostly worried about this idiot.”

Nicola looked over at Wash. “Yeah. Everyone’s really worried about him. I hope he wakes up soon.” He dropped his book bag beside one of the free chairs and sat, but not before reaching over and patting Wash on the leg.

“So,” Alanna dropped the chart back into the holder and leaned forwards in her seat, looking up at Emily. “I assume this isn’t a professional meeting, seeing as you called in Nicola.”

Emily shook her head. “No, this isn’t about Washington’s health, but rather to talk about everyone’s Gifts with Carolina.”

Alanna held up a hand. “Wait, so does Carolina has a Gift?”

“Yes. Hawk's Strike. Gifts run in my family.” Carolina shifted in her seat. “Am I the last one to know that everyone else had a Gift?”

“Oh, so everyone has a Gift.” Alanna sighed. “Should I have noticed that- wait. Does that mean that every time I knew that you were exhausted, it was your Gift I was sensing, not you?”

Emily shrugged. “Probably! I was using my Gift a lot. We all were.” She looked at Carolina. “I have what is called Capybara's Stature. It helps me make you more comfortable when I’m treating you.”

Nicola bounced in his seat. “My Gift is being happy and helping others be happy. Dr. Grey said it’s probably something's Joy. I’d ask my parents if they know but…” he shrugged and Carolina frowned. “It’s okay! I have everyone else here now so I’m only sad sometimes.”

Alanna patted him on the arm, and he leaned into it. “I have Otter's something or other. I haven’t asked anyone for details but that’s what me and Nicola decided I was so that’s all that matters.” She winked at him and he grinned. “It helps me tell if people are sick. For instance, I can tell that you’re still feeling nauseated. Have you eaten yet?”

Carolina hid a wince. She hadn’t eaten yet, felt like she couldn’t eat when Wash was dead to the world. “I had a bite.”

Both Alanna and Emily made grumbling noises, but it was Nicola who actually said anything. “Here- I have a sandwich if you want it? I already had one so it's okay. It's got real ham too!”

He pressed it into Carolina's free hand before she could say anything, and before she realized what she was doing, she'd unwrapped and eaten half of it. She wiped her mouth and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. I guess I’m hungrier than I thought.”

“Obviously,” Alanna said dryly. “So, that’s us then introduced. What brought this on, Emily?”

“Carolina was surprised to find that she wasn’t the only person with a Gift. She asked if Washington had one and he most certainly does— Cat's Blessing. It's why he hasn’t died ten times over.”

“Uh…Doctor Grey?” Everyone turned to Nicola, who had a notebook in his lap covered in scattered notes. “How do you know that? I mean, the cat part is obvious-“ as if on cue, the cat at the window meowed. “-but how do you know it’s a Blessing Gift?”

“Oh, my Benefactor told me,” she replied simply, and Carolina began to choke on her own spit. “Are you okay, Carolina?”

“I’m fine,” she squeaked after a minute of hacking coughs. “You…talk to your Benefactor? That’s allowed?”

“Well, yes. Anyone can talk to them, but very rarely do they reply. I believe that I’m a bit of a special case, however.” Emily let out a bark of laughter, before motioning behind her. “I’ve had to restore it since Armonia’s destruction also destroyed my home, but I believe that I have one of the largest collections of information about the Gifts. I was told that they needed to be sure I wasn’t ‘ _up to something_ ’,” she paused. “That was their exact wording too, now that I think about it.”

“Okay, wait, hold up.” At some point, Alanna had grabbed Wash’s chart and some paper from Nicola and was also taking notes. “What the hell is a Benefactor?”

This time everyone’s eyes flicked to her. “You…when did you learn about your Gift?” Carolina asked.

Alanna shrugged. “In the middle of the war. I knew about Gifts, one of my fathers has one, but I guess I don’t know enough. So, what’s a Benefactor? I’m guessing I’m the only one who doesn’t know what that is.”

“Your Benefactor is the one who gives you your Gift,” Nicola said, like he was reciting it from memory. “My mom said that they picked our family for a Gift because of something that happened years and years ago. They also roam around, looking for people worthy of their Gifts that don’t have one already. We had a few Benefactors in my family but…” he frowned. “I don’t remember what they were. That’s okay though!” Nicola grinned. “I don’t need to know for sure. And if my Benefactor wants me to know, then I guess I’ll find out.”

Alanna nodded, scribbling on her paper as Carolina turned back to Emily. “So…do you know all of our Gifts then?”

“Oh yes. Some I was able to guess- Carolina, I’ve seen you run and your little carving, so it wasn’t hard to figure out. Epsilon helped with some of the others, and Donut too. Alanna, could I trouble you to get your copies of what Epsilon gave us for everyone’s medical history? I know you printed those ones out.”

She snorted. “Yeah, and now the thirty-four pages of injuries and near-death experiences make a lot more sense. Give me a second.”

As Alanna left, Carolina turned to Emily. “Epsilon knew about our Gifts?”

“He did,” she said apologetically. “He told me that he would have told you if he could, but there was some kind of blocker.”

Carolina sighed. “Yeah that…that makes sense…you—” She paused. “The rest of Freelancer. They were Gifted too?”

“Yes. That information is blacked out but…I have copies of their files, if you’d like them.” She offered, but Carolina shook her head.

“No, I- not right now?  I might take you up on that later…”

She didn’t want to. If she’d known that the rest of her team had been Gifted like her, would they have lived? Would they have still torn each other apart?

Carolina found that she didn’t want to know.

“Are you okay, Agent Carolina? Can I give you a hug?” Nicola asked, and he darted over when she nodded. And that’s what Alanna walked in on, Nicola nearly sitting in Carolina’s lap as he gave her a hug as Emily took a picture on her phone.

“Blackmail? Really Emily?” she said, and Carolina laughed. “Okay, so I have Washington and Carolina’s files. You have the rest on that thing?” Alanna nodded to Emily’s data pad, and she nodded back.

“Yep. So, let's look at yours first, Carolina.”

Nicola dragged over a tray table and stuck it in the middle of their chair circle, and they all leaned forwards as Alanna flipped past all the personal information and the psych evaluation, which looked like it had been used as a doodle pad, to a two-page spread that was almost entirely blacked-out.

“How did you get anything from this?” Nicola asked, fingers tapping each of the exposed words. There were probably fourteen of them dotting the pages.

“Your Benefactor?” Carolina asked, and Emily nodded.

“We…Gifted people aren’t very common, you see. And even less so because of the war. So when you all dropped into our laps, so to speak, they told me about your Gifts. And,” she paused. “Normally I wouldn’t be telling you all about their Gifts. I feel like it fits in my scope of professionalism to keep it private, but I think they need to know. I think you should tell them too, Carolina.”

 

“Okay…Tucker said they should be back in a couple of days. So, who’s first?”

 


	2. Chapter 2

Curled up on her hospital bed, Carolina closed her eyes. The impromptu meeting had gone on for what felt like hours, sifting through pages and pages of Freelancer medical files and arguing over who was going to be the one to tell Kimball about the Gifts. Now that she had time to herself, names of animals were swimming in her head and she cursed herself for not noticing sooner.

Simmons barely slept, but never seemed to be tired, no matter how long he was awake for. Grif was the only one of them who never seemed bothered by the overheated summers or insanely cold winters on Chorus or Iris. When they were digging Wash out of the Hand of Merope, Caboose had commented on her strength and suddenly she was able to move pieces of debris she wasn’t able to before and wasn’t able to after. Sarge seemed to work magic on every piece of machinery, robot, or A.I. he touched.

Epsilon was always telling her that she could move faster.

She groaned and rolled over, punching her hospital-grade pillow until it was a little more comfortable. That wasn’t the only thing that was bothering her.

Carolina had watched as York talked him out of trouble with ease, no matter how farfetched and ridiculous the excuse. His pickup lines were the only exception to his silver tongue, but he never had to try that hard with her.

The angrier South was, the better she faired in a fight. Carolina had witnessed a friendly sparing match between her and Maine had nearly become a brawl to the death before North, Wash, and Connie managed to pull the pair apart.

No matter how far away they were, if North was their sniper, he always had them in his sights. She had, jokingly, pointed out a sign easily a mile away to him during an undercover op, and he just smiled and asked if she was really in the mood for pitas. When they drove past it later, she had accused him of cheating.

They had all been Gifted. She was just an idiot for not noticing sooner.

* * *

 

Three days later, Dr. Grey approved her discharge and Emily took her out for breakfast.

Now that the UNSC blockade had been lifted, the aid and donations resumed their steady flow and slowly Chorus was leaving almost a decade of war behind them. That meant that when Emily brought her to one of the many café’s that were springing up in the new capital of Brioso, it wasn’t rations being served but actual food.

“Now, the hospital food can’t be that bad,” Emily said with a laugh as Carolina methodically inhaled her pancakes.

“I haven’t had pancakes in…a while. Tucker made them last…four months ago? And it’s hard to go from pancakes back to ration bars.” Carolina explained, licking whipped cream off of her lips. “So, what did you need to tell me that has you buying me breakfast?”

Emily laughed. “Am I that transparent, Carolina? Well, once you left the other day, we decided that you would be the best person to talk to Vanessa about the Gifts. And it will give you an excuse to talk to Santa about Tucker’s Gift.” She had an omelette on her plate, real eggs too, from what Carolina could see. “Oh! And good news for Wash. Alanna asked around, went from doctor to doctor to nurse to field medic, and we found a physiotherapist for him. He’s already helping us figure out what exactly Wash will need and we’re working on a plan. And, lucky us, the mercenaries had no use for walkers, so we have plenty of supplies.”

“He’s going to need a walker?” Carolina asked, confused. “Why would he need a walker?”

“Well,” Emily said, finishing her cup of coffee first. “With the severity of his brain damage, it’s likely that he’ll need assistance for the first little while regaining his ability to walk. We’ll know better once he’s stable. Have you heard from the others yet?”

Carolina nodded, grateful for the topic change. Thinking about Wash and what happened was starting to make her stomach turn. “Tucker said around 48 hours and they should be here. They got caught up with family stuff, I guess. Have you met Grif’s sister?”

“I haven’t…” Emily trailed off. “But if she’s like Grif, then she must have a Gift as well. I’ll have to let you figure that conversation out.”

Carolina snorted. “Gee, thanks. But, yeah, Kai’ll be with them too. I think she went right to Iris instead of stopping here first.”

“Will Sam be with them too?”

Carolina blinked, frowned, and wracked her brain. “I…don’t know a Sam,” she finally said, confused.

“He’s the man who brought Wash in,” Emily said. “Polite but nervous. Told me that he had to leave right away to go back and help the rest of you. I think he was worried that I’d be upset with his patch job, but he did enough to keep Wash alive, so I have no complaints.”

Carolina had wondered how Locus managed to get Wash into Emily’s care.

“ _Riiiiiiiight_ , Sam. Yeah, he was someone Grif and Simmons made friends with while we were all off doing other stuff. I didn’t know his name, didn’t bother to ask.” She shrugged. ‘I’ll let him know that you aren’t upset with his field medicine next time I see him though.”

“Perfect. Well, my time is just about up- You can keep your things in Wash’s room for now, but I’d suggest asking Vanessa about housing while you’re speaking with her. It’ll be better if at least one of you stays planet side while he’s in the hospital.” Emily waved down the waiter. “You a _re_ going to speak to Vanessa, correct?”

“Yes, I’m going to go talk to Kimball.”

* * *

 

Saying that she was going to talk to President Kimball aka ‘please just call me Vanessa’ was easier said than done.

Despite the fact that the blockade was gone, there were still a steady stream of investigators, dignitaries, UNSC officials, and ambassadors lining up outside her door. There used to be journalists too, but when Vanessa announced that the only journalist she’d give an exclusive was Dylan, they stopped coming for anything but press conferences.

So when Andersmith, acting as her secretary for the day, told her that there was a two to three day wait before she could see Vanessa, Carolina didn’t argue and put her name down on the waitlist.

“You enjoy doing this?” she asked, and Caboose’s Lieutenant shrugged.

“It’s fine. I have more time to work on my online schooling when I have shifts here instead of helping with the police,” he said, nodding to a pile of papers. “And I can always ambush someone if I have questions about my universal history class.”

As they were speaking, a pair of women walked through the door and beelined to Andersmith.

“Hello, we have an appointment with President Kimball,” the shorter one said, and Carolina gave them both a once over. They both had more natural looking red hair than she did, strong noses, and dark skin. They looked familiar, although Carolina was sure she’d remember them if she’d met them.

“Names?” Andersmith asked, ever professional.

“Sophie and Katrina Doyle.”

Ah, that was why.

“Andersmith, why didn’t you tell me that Carolina was here?” Vanessa poked her head out of her office and waved Doyle’s sisters foreword. “Sophie, Katrina, have you met Agent Carolina? Come on in, you three.”

“We haven’t met, but Donald kept a journal and he mentioned you quiet a few times,” the taller sister said. “I’m Katrina.”

“And I’m Sophie.” She held out a hand for Carolina to shake. “It’s a pleasure.”

“Likewise.” As Doyle’s sisters took the chairs in front of Vanessa’s desk, Carolina settled against the wall. “I just have a few questions, Vanessa, then I’ll be out of your hair.”

“There’s no rush, Agent Carolina,” Katrina said. “We’re mostly here to let President Kimball know that the memorial is just about finished, and Sophie wants to know about business licences.”

“Memorial?” Carolina asked, tilting her head to the side.

Vanessa nodded. “Yes- a memorial to those who died. Katrina and Sophie helped to design it. What were your questions, Carolina?”

“I just need to talk to Santa- I can come back later for that. I was also…With Wash still in the hospital, I’m not going back to Iris yet. Emily, Dr. Grey told me that I should ask you about a place to stay in the meantime.”

Katrina and Sophie looked at each other as Vanessa nodded. “Here,” she slid over a key. “I’ve been waiting for you to ask, honestly. This is the key to an apartment building. The top two floors are set aside for you, the blues, and the reds.”

Carolina looked down at the key, then scooped it up. “Thank you, Vanessa.”

* * *

 

“Guess who’s back!”

“Hi Agent Carolina!”

“Quiet, please! I know you’re excited to be back, but this is a hospital, not a theme park.”

Two days later, Carolina looked up as Emily and Alanna walked into the hospital lounge, followed by the reds and blues. Caboose ran forwards, and Carolina grinned as he pulled her into a hug. She didn’t know what kind of pizza took a month and half to find, but none the less she was happy to see them.

“Where the hell were you guys?” she asked as Caboose lifted her onto his shoulders. “All Tucker said was that you guys were running behind schedule.”

Tucker groaned. “Okay, so it’s totally all Grif’s fault. The pizza place he insisted we visit was closed, so when we headed for the Ethiopian place that Doc wanted to go to—”

“Why did we even let him pick?” Grif interrupted, only for Simmons to elbow him in the side. “What? It’s a valid question.”

“ANYWAYS,” Tucker snapped. “We got stopped by the local news for an interview, which lead to Donut’s sisters getting in touch so we spent some time there. Then my grandmother called, so we touched base there.”

“She was so angry that Agent Washington and Junior weren’t with us,” Caboose whispered to Carolina, who snorted.

“Shut up, Caboose. Then Simmons dad messaged him, but we decided fuck that and went to meet Sarge’s nieces instead. At that point we decided that getting fast food on Earth wasn’t going to happen, so we started to head back when Caboose’s mom basically ordered us to stop in on the moon.” Tucker shrugged. “And now we’re back.”

“All that time, and you didn’t get garlic knots for Wash, did you,” Carolina said with a smirk. “Also, I fail to see how this is Grif’s fault.”

“I brought back pie, if that’s any consolation. How is Wash anyways? I thought he’d be here too.” Tucker said, and Alanna shook her head.

“We didn’t want to discuss his condition over the phone, so we figured that we’d wait for you all to get back. How much do you all know about Cerebral Hypoxia?”

“Uh…” Everyone looked at each other before Doc held up a hand.

“Yes! The man in the purple,” Emily said, pointing to him. “What do you know?”

“Cerebral Hypoxia occurs when the brain has been starved of oxygen. It can lead to severe brain damage, among other things.” Doc said, like reciting from a textbook. “The longer the duration without oxygen, the slighter the chance of a full recovery.” He paused. “Wait…that’s what Wash has? How long was he without air?”

“We have no idea. When Sam brought him in-“ Carolina watched as Tucker turned to Grif and mouthed _‘Sam?’_ to him, and was happy to see she wasn’t the only one baffled by the name. “-he was at least twelve minutes without. He didn’t come with you?” Emily asked, and everyone shook their heads.

“They headed back to Iris,” Sarge said, crossing his arms. “Said they’d come get us when we were done here.”

“Ohhhhh. Yes, Sam. Who is our friend.” Caboose said. “I like Sam.”

“Okay, so what’s the plan then?” Tucker asked.

“Well, since we don’t know how long Wash will be in the hospital, we are recommending that at least Tucker, Carolina, and Caboose stay on Chorus for the time being, although if all of you want to, Vanessa could probably make arrangements.” Alanna said.

“Blue Team shenanigans,” Sarge said with a grumble. “I’ll take my chances on the moon with Sam. You keep us updated, you hear?”

He went to turn and leave, but Emily grabbed him. “And where do you think you’re going? The rest of your team can go to the moon without you, dearest.”

He looked at her, then at Alanna, then turned to the others. “Grif, Simmons, Donut, Lopez…head back to the moon without me.”

“Gross,” Grif said without much heat. “Are you coming too, Kai?”

“Hey! She’s blue team, she should stay,” Tucker said, but she shook her head.

“I have, like, shit stewing up there, Tucker. I’ll come visit once I figure out this festival I’m hosting in a month.”

Tucker opened his mouth to argue when the door slammed open and two people stormed in. For a micro-second Carolina thought something had happened to Wash, but they didn’t look like doctors.

“I—can we help you?” Emily asked after a moment of complete silence, and then the yelling started.

“Do you have _any_ idea—”

“—radio silence isn’t—”

“—how many times I had to stop your dad—”

“—not angry, just _disappointed_ —”

“—worried we were?”

Alanna groaned and held her hands over her face. “Why couldn’t you just call like regular people? We were in the middle of a meeting.”

“Oh! Is this your family, Alanna?” Emily said as Carolina motioned for everyone else to follow her. They didn’t need to intrude on the reunion, not when there was more to discuss.

“So, that was something,” Grif said with a snort, dodging an elbow from Donut. “Anything else we need to know before we head back to our disaster in the sky?”

“Kimball—Vanessa’s given me a key to a couple of apartment floors for use to use while we’re on Chorus. We might as while all head over there, just so you know where to go and lay low after Donut burns something else down,” Carolina said with a laugh.

“That was only twice!” He protested as Carolina lead them out into the street, leaving Alanna, Grey, and Sarge behind to the mercy of Alanna’s family.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow she’d go visit the memorial with Vanessa, talk to her about her Gift, and talk to Santa about Tuckers. But for now, there was stories about family visits and pie demanding her entire attention.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inbetween starting this fic I: Binged Wolf 359 and talked to Kaitie and made this entire series a crossover series, added planned ships to my notes then changed them about 4 times, and started 2 other oneshots in this series  
> Oops
> 
> * * *
> 
> * So OOPS this is a crossover with Wolf 359 now and by oops I mean...Not oops  
> * More OC's! Doyle's sisters Katrina and Sophie  
> * I meant to have Kimball learn about the Gifts in this chapter but. It didn't happen. This fic will jsut be longer than I already planned I guess :P  
> * I started an AU of this AU where the Freelancers communicate and don't all end up dead. So that's something to look forward to
> 
> * * *
> 
> [Personal Tumblr](http://happyleech.tumblr.com/) / [TextsFromLastNight Red vs Blue Tumblr](https://textsfromchorus.tumblr.com/) / [Gift 'Verse World Building Google Doc](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1euGnfyh6O01P5u5dVyJbNr9yMSwVHwtQ0ay7WU9AJ7A/edit?usp=sharing/)

**Author's Note:**

> Alanna Jacobi belongs to Nile and I LOVE HER she...good
> 
> * * *
> 
> * Nicola Matthews is my BOY and I love him  
> * Carolina really should have noticed that shit was up with Wash, and every other goddamn Freelancer, but she was kind of wrapped up in her own thing  
> * Enjoy The Lore
> 
> * * *
> 
> [Personal Tumblr](http://happyleech.tumblr.com/) / [TextsFromLastNight Red vs Blue Tumblr](https://textsfromchorus.tumblr.com/) / [Gift 'Verse World Building Google Doc](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1euGnfyh6O01P5u5dVyJbNr9yMSwVHwtQ0ay7WU9AJ7A/edit?usp=sharing/)


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